


An Awkward Valentine's

by AnOverratedStory



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry Potter Next Gen, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hogwarts, Next Gen, Next Generation, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-08 16:59:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3216653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnOverratedStory/pseuds/AnOverratedStory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose never used to have an aversion to the holiday centered around love and romance, until her seventh year when a certain breakup leaves her wretching at the thought of coming in contact with couples. En route to visit a teacher - the least likely place to find teens glued at the mouth - she meets with a particular classmate dealing with troubles of his own. (Rated teen for one instance of bad language)</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Awkward Valentine's

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested by someone on tumblr and isn't entirely my version of next gen canon. Whenever I post a next gen fanfic, I shouldn't be held to the happenings of this piece. 
> 
> I kind of like this one, and it took obnoxiously long to write. It has its problems and I seem to have an affinity for making characters that either don't know or don't like each other spill out their feelings and problems to one another. Oopsies. Will try my hardest to break that habit.

The sun shone obnoxiously on Rose's tired face. She moaned and rolled over, pulling her maroon blanket over her face. There was no other noise in the dormitory besides her alarm clock ticking away at her bedside, and this told the seventh year that everyone else had gone down to breakfast and was waiting in the entrance hall to be escorted to Hogsmeade. She groaned again.

 

Today was Valentine's Day. Any other time, Rose would be indifferent to the holiday — maybe even a little excited — but now she hated it. So much love, so many couples, _kissing_... Ew.

 

It was soon that she realized she was not going to fall asleep again. Upon stealing a glance at her alarm clock, it was revealed to be eleven o’clock. Everyone was down at Hogsmeade already, and she figured she was one of the very few still in the castle. On one hand, this was very depressing, and she was more than a little disappointed that none of her friends dragged her out of bed to do something fun, but on another hand, at least she could roam around without being bombarded by the sight of couples.

 

She showered and dressed in the most comfortable thing she could find — a large baggy burgundy sweater and leggings that stretched just past her knees.

 

There was no one in the common room when she exited the dormitories —  not even first years. She didn’t stay long, though, and retreated from tower quickly. When the portrait of the Fat Lady closed behind her, the painted woman began to speak. “Not down at the village, dear?” she asked sweetly. Rose shook her head but did not answer as she fled.

 

The Gryffindor girl loitered around the halls for a time, only occasionally passing first years, some sulking about not being allowed to go to Hogsmeade. Her mind drifted far away as she strolled, thinking about things from Romanian dragons to the Defense Against the Dark Arts homework that was due next week. Six feet of parchment… _How am I going to fill six feet of parchment writing about giants?_ she thought to herself.

 

The Defense work occupied her mind during her journey until she realized she was on the same floor and in the same corridor of the room where the class on her mind was located. She wondered how inappropriate it would be to bother her Professor about homework on Valentine’s Day. A shrug dispelled her worries as she neared the classroom. Professor Strauss probably wouldn’t even be there.

 

She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. This did not deter Rose, however, for there was noise coming from within. Without permission, she began pushing the door open, however slowly to give her professor some warning in case she was not welcome.

 

No one acknowledged Rose’s entry, and the noise became louder as she entered the classroom. It was a sort of grunting and some faint muttering along with the soft sound of spells being cast. From the corner of the room she could see various colored lights, glowing at random intervals.

 

Rose gently closed the door and rounded the corner of the entryway to see what was causing the commotion. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what she saw. Standing with his back facing her, was the tall, platinum blond, pale figure of Scorpius Malfoy. He was casting a slew of jinxes at a large dummy the students would usually practise their defensive and offensive spells on. His motions were tight and slashing, clearly uncontrolled and angry. He muttered incantations to himself in a low voice. “ _Stupefy_ … Stupid, no good… _Flippendo_ … traitor… _Expelliarmus_ … prick…” His wand emitted half-hearted sparks in subdued reds, greens, purples, and blues. The dummy was barely affected as it received the attacks.

 

Upon realizing her company, Rose gasped. She was surprised that her classmate heard her as he whirled around, his robes billowing out around him. She was also surprised to see that he was in his school uniform on a Saturday. His eyes were mad, positively glowing with anger. He didn’t seem to register Rose’s presence as they stared at each other in silence. Rose wore a shocked countenance, afraid of breaking their gaze.

 

When he finally seemed aware of his surroundings, Scorpius’s malevolent posture — leaning threateningly toward his visitor with has wand pointed directly at her chest — subsided and a blush crept into his cheeks. He broke their stare first and looked away, a shadow casting over his face. “What are you doing here, Weasley?” he asked rudely, though he seemed to embarrassed to be held accountable for his tone.

 

Rose looked to her feet as her cheeks reddened as well. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were in here… I was looking for Professor Strauss.”

 

“He’s not here,” Scorpius answered quietly, still rude-sounding.

 

It was uncommon for Scorpius to be rude. The only times he’d ever fought with Rose or anyone else was when he was arguing ideas and opinions during class discussions or else defending an underclassmen dangling in the air by an ankle, and even then he was never much less than polite — well, excepting when giving bullies a good arse-kicking. He was Head Boy, hailing from Slytherin house. Rose quite liked him, actually.

 

“Why are you jinxing the dummy on a Saturday morning?” Rose blurted out, not wanting to run from the room, fearing she’d humiliate herself further.

 

The Head Boy wrinkled his expression, looking confused, then glanced at his watch. “Firstly, it’s afternoon, Weasley,” he said venomously, so uncharacteristically venomously, “Second, I don’t think it’s any of your business.” Yikes.

 

Rose’s face shone an even brighter scarlet, but she was no longer hiding her face. “Excuse you, Malfoy, but you don’t need to let out your bad mood on me,” she snapped. Her hands were quickly stuck to her hips and her face formed in a scowl. His attitude no longer exempted him from Rose’s anger.

 

There was second of quiet before Scorpius spoke. “I’m sorry,” he muttered before turning to a desk and taking a seat.

 

At this, Rose’s anger dissipated — somewhat — and she folded her arms over her chest, still looking defiant but not aggressive.

 

He put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes, groaning. “ _Uuuugh!_ ” He stretched, then looked at his companion, for the first time not looking too alarming. “So, any reason you aren’t in Hogsmeade for Valentine’s Day?” he asked awkwardly and with a crooked smile. He seemed to spit the holiday’s name.

 

Rose blushed yet again and her pose crumbled as her hands fell to her sides and her back slouched. She shuffled to the seat adjacent Scorpius and sat. “That was an abrupt change in conversation,” she noted. He cracked another smile — “Sorry” — before she answered. “Do you really want to know?” she prompted apprehensively.

 

He shrugged. “If you’re staying you might as well give us something to talk about.”

 

She glared at him playfully, then stared straight ahead. Her stomach lurched when she realized she was about to tell Scorpius Malfoy why she was so hell-bent on ignoring the existence of Valentine’s Day. This was most certainly not what she’d intended on doing today.

 

“All right, then, I’ll give you the short version. Jason Collens broke up with me last month. I still gag when I see people kissing in the halls,” she blurted with a gulp of air. She held her breath as she waited for her partner to respond.

 

He chuckled subtly. “I suppose that’s a good enough reason to avoid the festivities.”

 

“What about you?”

 

“Huh?”

“Why aren’t you in Hogsmeade? Won’t Bryony be mad you aren’t spending the day with her?”

 

He shifted uncomfortably and looked down, avoiding Rose’s deep, dark ocean-blue eyes.

 

It didn’t take long for Rose to put two and two together. “Is that why you’re here? Did something happen between you two?” she waited for an answer, but received none. “Of course, you don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to.”

 

He shook his head dismally. “You told me your troubles, I guess it’s only fair that I reciprocate,” he commented, turning his head to face his peer and allowing the edges of his lips to curl into a rueful smile. “I broke up with her. This morning, actually,” he said with a sigh as some color reappeared in his cheeks. “I went to the bathroom and there she was, all over Cepheus Rowle,” he elaborated with disgust. “I came down here to let out some anger.”

 

Rose jutted out her bottom lip pensively, then spoke in a nervous but comic tone, “Cepheus isn’t even cute,” she chuckled, twiddling her thumbs.

 

Surprisingly, he laughed back. “I guess he’s not,” Scorpius allowed, with a sideways glance to his right. He smirked at Rose.

 

“I mean, there’s a lot of cuter people than Cepheus… and I’m really sorry Bryony cheated on you… it’s really stupid of her… and not even with someone cute! Not to mention she already had someone cute… cuter than Cepheus…” Rose rambled, then catching herself towards the end. Color rose once again in her cheeks, and she immediately jerked her head to look at Scorpius, her eyes wide. He mimicked her actions, and they were both staring at each other in shock. For a few moments, they were equally as speechless. “I-I didn’t mean that… er- I mean I meant it… you’re plenty cute… but I didn’t mean… I shouldn’t have said that…” she rambled on again in the same nature.

 

The corner of Scorpius’s lip lifted. “You’re a silly one, Weasley,” he snickered.

 

Little did the couple realize, the two’s faces managed to gravitate towards each other’s. Rose’s stare impulsively darted down to her partner’s lips, then back to his eyes. Her stomach churned and flipped so many times she felt as though she’d eaten an entire package of peppermint toads. Scorpius’s eyes followed her own.

 

Time seemed to stop and speed up at random intervals, making the ensuing events all the more confusing. Rose vaguely remembered the brush of Scorpius Malfoy’s lips on hers. Then, they were in a relatively deep kiss that neither seemed intent on breaking for whatever reason.

 

Scorpius’s hand wandered to her neck and he deepened the kiss. Rose sat, enjoying the moment as she allowed the Slytherin to pull her closer. They were standing now, and Scorpius had to lean down considerably for their mouths to reach.

 

Time was speeding up again, and the sound of the classroom door opening did not extend to the ears of either student, nor did the gasp of an appalled Professor Strauss. When he managed to speak up, however, they snapped off of each other like an exceptionally potent electric shock ran through them. “Mister Malfoy! Miss Weasley!” he called out. “If you must do that, please go find a corner or go to Hogsmeade with it rather than my classroom!”

 

Neither of them answered, but managed to escape into the corridor in a couple of strides, both looking like muggles that caught sight of a ghost. They rounded a corner together, then leaned against the cold stone wall. They panted from their jog and seemed to forget each other’s presence for a moment as they collected their thoughts. The first to make a noise besides labored breathing was Scorpius, who guffawed abruptly.

 

Rose faced him and her eyebrow raised. “What are you laughing at?” she coughed, though she didn’t sound entirely unamused herself.

 

“Oh, this day has just not turned out _at all_ like I expected it.” Silence. “This is a bit awkward, huh?” he asked at length.

 

Rose nodded meekly, the full force of the last half hour or so weighing on her. “Very awkward, actually.”

 

“I think I’ll go back to my common room.”

 

“Same here.”

 

A long silence.

 

“Rose?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Thanks.”

  
“No problem.”


End file.
